Extra appointments are now available for people in the West Midlands who need urgent or unscheduled dental care.

These appointments are part of the 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments being rolled out across the country.

The appointments are for urgent conditions including:

• Severe toothache: persistent and intense pain that cannot be managed with over-the-counter painkillers.
• Dental abscess: infection causing swelling, pain, and possibly fever.
• Broken or knocked-out tooth: trauma resulting in a fractured or completely dislodged tooth.
• Bleeding in mouth following a dental procedure or an injury that doesn’t stop by itself but can be self-controlled using local measures. Note that if bleeding cannot be self-controlled in any way, emergency care may be necessary.
• Swelling: significant swelling in the mouth or face that could indicate an infection.
• Fractured, loose or displaced fillings causing pain.
• Severe bleeding from gums, or acute conditions affecting other soft areas of the mouth (such as cheeks or tongue) which require urgent treatment.

• Other treatments may be available at the discretion of the dentist. These treatments may require extra visits and costs.

More information on urgent dental conditions at NHS.uk/urgentdentalcare

People can be guided to what service they require by visiting NHS111 or get an urgent dental appointment by phoning 111.

You do not need to be registered with the dental practice.

Adam Morby, Regional Chief Dental Officer, NHS England – Midlands, said: “We know how important it is to people in the West Midlands that they can get urgent dental care when they need it, so we’re pleased to be offering these extra appointments. The appointments are for urgent dental care only, so please check our website for a list of eligible conditions.

“Through this initiative and others that have expanded NHS dental services, we are helping to improve patients’ access to dentistry in the West Midlands. There is also work happening nationally to improve dental workforce recruitment, retention and training.”

Mohammad Shaikh, a dentist in Dudley, said: “Our dental practice regularly provides urgent dental appointments. Patients either call us directly if they are a regular patient, or they ring 111 to be directed to us or another regional dentist if they are not.

“Last week, I saw an urgent dental care patient who required a same-day tooth extraction due to severe pain. The patient told us that although they had experienced long waits for dental care last year, they feel that emergency dental services have improved significantly and that it is now much easier to get an appointment when they need one.”